Attitude

[sang]

One of the interesting excerpts that I found while reading the book Man's search for meaning was something like..

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

This is basically about attitude and how one changes his or her attitude based on the difficulty or the adversity of the situation. I think that this shows a lot about one's attitude and that he or she can always choose to be positive and not depressed regardless of the situation. What do you guys think? Can we have a positive or even just a good attitude no matter what the situation is?

I think it is indeed possible. Coming from a man who has experienced living in a concentration camp. I think that this generation take things for granted, meaning we sometimes don't really know how to appreciate the simplest things. I've made an effort to just cope with what I have and to just be thankful for it, but honestly, it is very hard at times. I guess maintaining that attitude requires a lot of effort.

[sang]

Also, he says that our choice of attitude is a freedom that we choose. Is it a freedom? If you think about it, when our situation turns bad or when we face many obstacles in life, our attitude tends to be heavily affected. Is it because we don't have as much willpower to choose our attitude? Can we actually choose our own way?

[alexkoo]

I think attitude matters the most. Every single man is born equal but it is their attitude that decides their lives. I recently watched video about this man name Eric Thomas giving motivational speech to students. He was homeless who worked his way up and got this 4 year degree in 12 years. He says that If you really want to be successful, you got a want it more than anything. I think wanting something or passion can be part of attitude. He told his students this story about one man who wanted to be scuessful. He wanted to achieve success that he went to his guru to ask for an advice. His guru, did not give him any advice but took him to the swimming pool. Guru told him to get in the pool. Once he was in the pool, his guru grabbed his head and put in down the water. Guru did not let him breathe until he was almost dead. Once he came out, Guru told him how he felt down there. He told him that he wanted to breathe so bad. Guru told him that you gotta want it like how much you wanted to breathe down there.

Anyway, attitude can change everything. If you are negative and complain everything, you are not going to get anything in life.

[elijahlee]

I think that it is not really talking about how freedom to choose attitude can help you deal with adversity, but how that choice you get to choose your own attitude is the last bare-bones right that a human being has. And yes, the attitude is very powerful and has the powerful enough to get you through situations. I also think that although a positive attitude is good, it has to be within reason for it to be effective.

[cesar]

I think being happy or being sad is a choice you make. Life throws things at us that we can't control, but we can choose how to take them and how to act upon them. It might sound sappy and cliche, but I think it's one of those things that are true.

[sarahlee2]

It is definitely possible but sometimes it's really hard to do. I think its easy to say like I can be positive when like you have problems but when you actually go through it its really difficult to look at rhe bright side of things. You try to look at the worst and just complain about the situation. But I think staying positive can help a lot.

[seongrae]

I also read man’s search for meaning for my book project and still remember that every man can choose their attitude toward any kinds of circumstances. No matter how hard is one’s surroundings; one still can have strong inner strength. I think it depends on people that even though there are always still opportunities to choose one’s attitude, there are people who can choose and people who just give up or not choose. Therefore, I agree that there are always choices that one can make but there are certain amounts of people who actually can.

[sarahlee4]

I definitely believe that perspective is everything. Someone can look at poop and think, eww thats so gross..why doesnt someone pick up that piece of crap! OR! someone can see that and think..wow! natures all natural manure! haha that was kind of a yucky example, but you get the point! i think that in everything we think, thrre are at least two different perspectives in which we can think. One is good and one is bad. We should all chanve perspectives when in times of hardships! think positively!

[sammy576]

I think that it takes skill to take someone to the top, but to stay on top, I think it it attitude. I mean I totally agree with sarah, its totally a matter of perspective. People can decide whether or not they can have a good day or a bad day, they can decide if they could make something an opportunity. Its all a matter on attitude and perspective and I think we should all change perspectives because life is too short to be anything but happy^^

[minchoi0923]

I remember my grandmother telling me that the true happiness comes from our mindset, not what we have. What she was trying to say is that no matter how "happy" the situation is, if the person is not satisfied with it then the situation will seem miserable. I completely agree with her and I think this answers your question. There will be some moments when we all suffer and feel miserable. However, if you keep thinking about it negatively, then you will not be able to overcome those obstacles. However, if you become more positive, then those obstacles will soon be a matter of nothing and let you become a stronger person.

[minjaeyang]

I agree that a person's attitude can be decided by the person. For example, even in Nazi concentration camps, some people are more optimistic than other people. However, sometimes people's atitudes have no affect on the result of something. For example, people were killed in concentration camps even if they had a possitive atitude. Therefore, I think people have the freedom to choose their attitde, but this does not always change the result.

[hannahs]

I think that it is possible since someone that lived in Nazi concentration camps said that. It is possible but for me I think it's really hard. It's probably different for every person but I think it is really hard for myself to look at the positive light of my situation even though I try really hard to. But, it's something I'm always working on.

[davidh]

I would say that's would never be the case. I would feel differently depending on the situation.... If situation provoke me, I would express my anger if necessary. This is common fact and belief that people follow and there is nothing. Wrong with it.

[sageda]

I'm going to try to relate this to the idea of religion. Like you said, attitude is everything. The way you choose to approach a situation can highly affect your well-being and even the outcome. The idea of religion and God(s) gives people a sense of hope. Like someone is always watching over them and that everything happens for a reason. When you're under the mindset that every difficulty that comes your way is a gift/lesson from God(s) then it might be must easier to confront. When you believe that everything happens for a reason then it kinda gives you the strength to go on to see what it was all for.

[tha0ism]

I think attitude changes everything. Even if you were in a miserable situation, if you were poisitive about it instead of thinking, 'oh my life sucks and i wanna die" then you will feel much better about the situation. Like even for concentration camp. if they were thinking oh after this camp i will be free, then they would do better there. However, if they were thinking oh this is a hell i cant handle it i wanna die, then they will just be depressing all the time